FSA labels 'dead in the water'

Legal experts have claimed there is no hope of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) achieving a unified nutritional labelling system without backing from Europe.

This month, the FSA will choose what to recommend to industry -- guideline daily amount (GDA) or multiple traffic light signposting. But PepsiCo, Kraft, Unilever, Nestlé, Kellogg, Danone, Cadbury and Masterfoods all launched their own GDA schemes in February, while Tesco has been running with its GDA nutritional labelling for some time after deciding not to implement traffic lights labelling.

The FSA said that it was "encouraging" that manufacturers were taking the need to improve food labels seriously, but John Cooper, partner in the regulatory team at the law firm Wragge, said the FSA had been fatally undermined by food firms jumping the gun.

"Manufacturers have holed the FSA below the water line," he said. "The industry is calling the FSA's bluff." He agreed that European backing was crucial for a harmonised scheme.

"It seems likely that the FSA's proposed labelling scheme will be ignored by much of the industry," added Owen Warnock, a partner and food labelling expert at law firm Eversheds. "The FSA only has the power to introduce guidelines and enforcement regulation in this area can only come at European level."

He said that the FSA had failed to listen to industry opinion and that it was not surprising that big brands and retailers had taken matters into their own hands. "This is not ideal since it will make it harder for consumers to make like for like comparisons."

"The problem with legislation is that it is such a long process," said Simmons & Simmons solicitor Sahar Bhaimia. By the time a new labelling system came into play, consumers would have lost interest, she said. "It is unlikely that manufacturers will follow the FSA's signposting recommendation."

The European Commission is due to issue a discussion document later this year on the future of food labelling, after a major conference last month involving experts from 23 European member states.